Time Changes for Scheduled Nursing Assessments: Impact on Clinical Decisions and Patient Discharge

Using a shared governance model, a clinical nursing practice change was implemented to increase collaborative decision making among health care providers at morning rounds. The goal of this project was to improve nursing workflow at the beginning of the shift and improve patient flow by discharging patients earlier. By changing the time of morning vital signs and nursing assessments from 0800 to 0600, staff reported increased collaboration among the multidisciplinary team and improved nursing workflow.